


Don't Call Me by My Name

by Emeli_Thorne



Series: Kastle Christmas 2K17 AU - Kastle as neighbours [5]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Family Dinner, Fluff, Mentions of Frank's Family, addie hates her name, frank finds it all amusing, frank loves having a family to come home to, karen wasn't very imaginative when she named her, mentions of curt, mentions of the liebermans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-18 01:06:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14201700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emeli_Thorne/pseuds/Emeli_Thorne
Summary: Frank, Karen, and Addie share a family dinner and Frank finally finds out Addie's full name.





	Don't Call Me by My Name

**Author's Note:**

> Set a few days after New Years Eve. Frank, Karen, and Addie have established a routine and Frank enjoys it very much.

Frank had just come back from work, hurrying to change so he could go to Karen's. Addie and she had invited him over for dinner once again, though at this point, he was a regular in their apartment.

After that beautiful Christmas Eve and Christmas day he had spent with them, Frank felt some holes in his heart begin to fill, which both scared and excited him.

After losing his beautiful Maria and their children, Frank had made peace with the fact that he would be alone for as long as he existed on this world.

The Liebermans, Curt, they were all a part of his life that made existence more tolerable. But at the end of the day, he would always come back to an empty apartment filled with memories instead of people, haunted by his guilt and regret that sometimes he hated those pictures of his family that were a permanent reminder they would never come back to him. A reminder he would never again feel Maria’s nails trailing his skin, hear his baby girl laugh or play football with his son.

They were gone forever, and even the memories he had of them were starting to fade, thanks to his trauma.

 Curt tried so much to help him with his support group and the numerous books he lent him.

The Liebermans invited him over for dinner basically every week, but Frank always managed to find an excuse not to show up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with them or that he didn’t love them. He would give his life for every single one of them, kill if necessary. They were his light at the end of the tunnel.

But being around them often hurt more than it healed. He was the fifth wheel in their perfectly beautiful four-wheel family, an unnecessary addition that did more harm than good with his mood swings and never-ending wallowing. They made room for him in their family, but Frank always felt like he was imposing, like his mere presence perturbed their family dynamics.

Karen and Addie, though... With them it was different in a way he couldn’t quite explain to himself as much as he tried.

They didn’t need to make room for him in their lives because it felt like it was always his, waiting for him. He fit so well with them, so seamlessly.

He didn’t feel like he was redundant and he never felt like he should leave them be. Their lives were irrevocably intertwined with his now and there wasn’t a part of him that regretted opening up to them and having them welcome him with open arms.

 

Picking up a tray of muffins he had made that morning before going to work, Frank left the apartment and knocked on Karen’s door. A few seconds later Addie opened it, a bright smile on her face, her hair made in space buns (she had been wearing her hair like that for five days now).

“Frank, hi!” she jumped into his arms and he chuckled as he caught her, greeting her with a smile of his own.

Addie jumping into his arms as soon as she saw him had become their own greeting and Frank understood why; their conversation still plagued him. She missed a father, missed having someone aside from her mom in her life and although he thought he’d never be in this situation again, Frank fell into the role easily and with joy. He wanted to give this little girl what she and her mom had given him – peace and family, two things he thought he had lost forever.

“I brought you muffins, the ones you like so much,” he whispered to her, enjoying the way her eyes grew as big as saucers  and a giggle that escaped her lips.

She hugged him tightly, “Thaaaaank youuuu! It’s like you knew I dreamed them last night.”

He just laughed, not wanting to admit that Karen had texted him that morning and begged him to make those muffins for Addie.

He walked into the kitchen with Addie in his arms and as soon as his gaze landed on the blonde that captured his heart, Frank couldn’t help his lips spreading in a smile, his heart hammering in his chest.

She was doing something at the stove and when she turned, both he and Addie laughed at her.

“Why are you two laughing at me?” Karen feigned being offended, one hand propped on her hip the other pointing at them with a wooden spoon from which red sauce was dripping onto the kitchen floor.

“Mommy!!! You have sauce all over your mouth!” Addie squealed as Frank put her down, covering her mouth as she giggled and ran away to wash her hands when Karen pointed the spoon in the direction of the bathroom.

 “Here, I’ll wipe it off,” Frank offered, approaching her and trapping her in his embrace. Her palms landed on his chest as he covered her lips with his, his tongue licking the sauce off them. Karen moaned into his mouth, grabbing a fistful of his sweater.

She tasted like tomato sauce and coffee she was addicted to, sweet and rich.

“Hello there. How was your day?” she asked him when they separated, hearing Addie’s footfalls in the hallway.

Leaning back slightly, he smoothed back her hair, eyes locking with hers. “Good, but it’s even better now.”

He meant it. It had been awhile since Frank thought of a woman, but now his every waking hour was spent thinking of Karen and Addie and the warmth and comfort their company provided him.

Karen’s bright eyes, her full lips stretched into a smile, Addie’s giggles and ramblings... that was his life now.

When Addie returned, Frank helped her set the table and Karen served them spaghetti with meatballs in tomato sauce.

The three of them ate and talked about their day. It was mostly Addie that interrogated Frank about the animals at the shelter and her begging her mom to let her come with Frank one day.

“Are you sure you wanna go?”

“Yes, yes, I am. Frank, pleeeeeease, take me with you!”

Karen and he exchanged looks; they were already good at communicating this way.  Looking back to Addie, Frank told her he could take her with him the following week and Addie jumped off the chair and threw herself at him.

“Oh, Frank, thank you, thank you. I promise, you won’t regret it.”

Thanking her mom too, she returned to her seat then and they talked some more before moving to the living room and starting the muffins Frank had brought.

“Hey, uh, can I ask you something?” Frank said after awhile, looking at both of them.

“Sure,” Karen replied, taking a bite.

“Addie? That your full name or?”

As soon as he said it, the mother and daughter exchanged a look, then Karen burst out laughing while Addie slapped her forehead, theatrically throwing herself on the couch and whining.

”Noooo! Frank, no! Why did you have to ask us that?”

Her reaction stunned Frank, who didn’t understand neither Karen’s nor Addie’s reactions. As he looked at them both, he noticed Karen’s face becoming beet-red, her eyes filling with tears as Addie covered her face with a pillow and screamed into it.

“Okay, I’m sorry. What did I do?”

Karen recovered first, wiping the stray tears off her cheeks and getting her laughter under control. Addie was still screaming into the pillow.

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine, actually.”

“Oh?”

“As you know I was in a very bad place back then. I was pregnant, alone, depressed. I spent my days going to work and back to the apartment. One of my only comforts was music and-“ Karen mouthed to say something but Addie removed the pillow form her face in that moment and interrupted her yelling,

“Adele! She named me Adele!” then put the pillow back on her face and resumed her frustrated screaming.

Franks mouth kept opening and closing, gaze wandering from Addie to Karen in confusion.

“Like the singer?”

Karen nodded, worrying her lip. “Her songs helped me through hard times. I used to lie in my bed listening to her, bawling my eyes out. By the morning my throat would be raw from singing, but I would be feeling so much better.”

When his confused expression didn’t change, Karen added in a whisper, “She hates it. As soon as I told her how she got the name, she refused to respond when I called her. Demanded I and everyone else call her Addie instead.”

“Because everyone always asks me if I know any of her songs!” Addie removed the pillow again and sat upright, looking angry and annoyed as she crossed her arms on her chest.

Frank pressed his lips tightly, not wanting to start laughing and make Addie think he was making fun of her. He understood where she was coming from. Kids had no saying in what they were going to be named, any frustration is understandable.

Wanting to wipe that annoyance off her face, he decided to share something with her.

“My son, Frank jr. He hated we named him that. Always said we were unoriginal and dumb for giving him my name instead of his own. He didn’t even like Frankie. Said he was gonna change his name as soon as he could.”

“Well, I get it. Imagine having the same name as your dad. How was he supposed to know if his mom called him or you?”

Her reasoning was right and both Karen and he chuckled as the memory of his son was making his throat constrict. He missed Frankie so much, him and his quirks.

Returning his attention back to the little girl, he said, “Listen, I promise I won’t ever call you Adele.”

Looking at him with suspicion and tilting her chin up she asked, “Promise?”

When Frank promised and swore he wouldn’t call her Adele, it still wasn’t enough. Addie demanded they make a pinky promise, since that promise could never be broken.

Frank obliged, because there wasn’t anything in this world he wouldn’t do for her.

 

Later that night, when Karen and he snuggled under the covers, Frank couldn’t help but tease her.

“Adele? Really, Karen?”

She slapped his arm, rolling her eyes but still smiling.“ Shut up! I was unimaginative and Adele was on repeat throughout my whole pregnancy.”

Shaking his head, Frank kissed her temple then drew her closer.

“For what is worth, I like it. But I won’t be riskin’ my life by telling Addie that.”

“You better not,” she retorted, burying her head in the crook of his neck and yawning. “Who’s gonna take care of us when we get old?”

It was a joke, Frank knew, but somehow the thought of him and Karen lasting that long, growing old together made him fall asleep easier, dreaming of a future with her and Addie.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and/or comment. Feedback makes my day :D   
> Find me on tumblr at lightblindingme


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